


heaven is a place on earth with you

by bbydelrey



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/F, High School AU, I'll add more tags as i go, Lesbian AU, Maybe a little angst, cis girl au, crystal and gigi have been best friends since 2nd grade, crystal is gay, gigi is "straight"
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:48:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24722554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bbydelrey/pseuds/bbydelrey
Summary: in which crystal and gigi are best friends, and have been for as long as they can remember, but maybe, just maybe, they both secretly want something more.///another crygi high school au that absolutely no one asked for
Relationships: Gigi Goode/Crystal Methyd, Jackie Cox/Jan Sport
Comments: 23
Kudos: 79





	1. part one

**Author's Note:**

> hello everyone,
> 
> so i know there is a lot of crygi high school au's out there, but i really wanted to write a crygi fic and i frickin' love high school au's so of course i had to make my own. i have only wrote the first chapter and like a bit of the second chapter but i really wanted to post this first chapter to see if anybody likes it. updates might be slow for these first couple weeks but hopefully after that i'm going to be posting pretty often.
> 
> also if anyone has read my branjie fic "i've finally found you" i have decided to put it on hold for a little while to focus on this new fic so yeh :)
> 
> i hope u all enjoy, let me know what you think in the comments <3

it was late august, the friday night before junior year began, and the carefree summer days were coming to a close. it was warm out in los angeles, the city looked beautiful outside of gigi's bedroom window, although the views of california didn't seem to matter so much right now. she had been reunited with crystal, her best friend for as long as she can remember, after three long weeks of separation. she had been visiting her extended family in missouri, alongside her mom and dad, and had only just got back the night before. gigi was so happy to see crystal again, she had been missing the girl like crazy. sure they had been texting whilst she was gone, but it wasn't the same. she had missed having the darker haired girl around.

it had just turned 6pm. the two were up in gigi's room, after sharing a long, warm hug in the hallway when crystal had first arrived. they were both sat on the king sized bed, legs crossed, facing one another.

"i feel like i haven't seen you in forever." crystal said with a smile, tucking some of her wavy hair behind her ears.

"same, i've missed you." gigi admitted.

"you've missed me?" crystal asked, animatedly, a shit eating grin on her face.

"yes, i have, you dork." gigi said, very matter of factly. "have you not missed me?"

"meh." crystal replied, making a so-so hand gesture.

"you're such an asshole." gigi laughed, hitting the other girl with a pillow.

"i'm kidding, i'm kidding." crystal said in defense, laughing alongside gigi.

"good." she said, before changing the subject, wanting to know about crystal's trip. "how was missouri?"

"it was alright, i guess. i saw my grandma, and my uncle, and my cousins, we went to this lake we used to go to a lot when i was little, which was fun," crystal began.

crystal had lived in missouri until she was seven years old when her parents decided to pack up everything they owned and move to the golden state. they had been wanting to leave missouri, and their small town, for a while, give themselves and their daughter a better life and so they thought what better place to do that than california.

"i met a girl while i was there." she continued.

her voice was kind of quiet, like she didn't know if she should tell gigi or not, which was ridiculous since she knew gigi was extremely supportive and accepting of her sexuality, of her liking girls.

she had told gigi that she was a lesbian when she was fourteen years old, and the lead up to that moment was perhaps the most anxious and scared crystal had ever felt in her life.

_flashback_

_it was a saturday night and the girls were having a sleepover, they did this often, a lot of times just the two of them, without the rest of their "squad". and tonight was one of those nights. it was just crystal and gigi. it was safe and comfortable, they felt like they could fully be themselves around one another and that was a really great feeling._

_but crystal was feeling off tonight. she felt like she was lying to everybody, but must importantly she felt like she was lying to her best friend, the person she trusted the most on this earth. the truth was she was terrified. she didn't want to lose gigi over this, she was scared that when she found out the truth she'd run for the hills, not wanting to be associated with a dyke, as she had been called once or twice before by random people at school who didn't even know her._

_"crys, are you okay? you seem a little off tonight." gigi asked, her voice was gentle and calm._

_"um ... i ... i need to tell you something, geege, but i'm scared." crystal was nervous, so unbelievably nervous she thinks she might die._

_"why are you scared?"_

_crystal looked down at the pale blue duvet cover for a moment, before looking back up at gigi._

_"i'm scared you're going to look at me differently once i tell you this." crystal replied honestly._

_"i won't, there's nothing you can say that will make me love you any less. you're my best friend, crystal." gigi told her sincerely, as she grabbed crystal's hand, trying to make her feel more at ease._

_crystal's breathing was shaky, and she could feel the anxiety building up inside of her. her thoughts were moving all too quickly, she was scared, so scared that this was going to ruin everything. but she knew, deep down, that she had to share this with gigi, she was her best friend and she deserved to know._

_"i don't really know how to say this, but ... um ... i'm ... gay." crystal said, her voice wavering._

_gigi didn't say anything for a moment, instead she wrapped her arms around crystal and hugged her as tightly as she could. crystal began to tear up, she was feeling so many emotions and she couldn't process any of them. tears started to fall, and gigi held her close, she couldn't even begin to imagine how difficult this must have been for the brunette, working up the courage to tell her._

_"hey, it's okay, you're alright." gigi spoke, as she rubbed her back._

_they stayed like that for a while, gigi comforted crystal, telling her that everything was going to be okay, and crystal cried into her shoulder because she was just so overwhelmed, coming to terms with all of this hadn't been easy for her._

_crystal eventually pulled away from gigi's warm embrace, and the girl gave her a reassuring smile, which made her feel so much better. she felt relieved, like a weight had been lifted._

_"i am so proud of you, crystal." gigi told her, wiping her tears away. "i'm going to support you and love you no matter what, okay? you liking girls doesn't change any of that."_

_crystal's heart felt so full, so warm, so happy. gigi was amazing, and this really just proved that. she had been so supportive and that made crystal feel so much better about all of this. she didn't have to hide anymore._

_end of flashback_

"ooooh, you did?" gigi said, excitedly.

crystal nodded, smiling at gigi's reaction.

"tell me about this girl then." gigi prompted.

"so basically, my uncle was having a barbecue, and the whole family was invited, as well as like a few of his friends and their families. there was this girl there, and i thought she was hot or whatever. and so i start talking to her, and we kiss, and she asks for my number. a couple days later, she invites me over to her house because her parents had went on a date night and so ... we hooked up."

"oh my god, yes, crystal!" gigi exclaimed. "did you see her again after that?"

"yeah, i saw her a couple times after that, but like ..." crystal paused for a moment, as she tried to figure out how to word her next sentence. "it wasn't anything serious, we both knew that obviously i was coming back here, it was just some fun, you know?" she explained.

gigi nodded, but before she could say anything crystal was asking her questions, just like she had been doing moments before.

"so ..." crystal said in a drawn out voice. "how are you and justin?"

gigi had started talking to justin a month or so before summer vacation began, and within two weeks they were dating. crystal didn't like him, not really anyways, but that wasn't anything out of the ordinary, she never liked any of gigi's boyfriends. she didn't know why she disliked all of them so much, she just knew that gigi deserved better.

"we're good, yeah." but crystal wasn't convinced.

"are you sure?' she asked.

"i don't want to talk about him tonight." gigi said firmly. "i just want to spend time with you, i've really missed you."

and so crystal dropped it.

"i've missed you too, geege."

she wrapped her arms around the girl, enveloping her in a nice, big hug. gigi had missed crystal's hugs whilst she was gone, which was strange because she wasn't much of a hugger but for some reason she always seemed to make an exception for crystal. she gave good hugs, that was all.

a few minutes later, there was a knock at gigi's bedroom door. gigi shouted for whoever it was to come in, and she quickly found out, it was her mother.

"me and your father are off now, there's money on the kitchen counter so order yourselves something nice to eat. crystal, it's lovely to see you."

"you too." crystal said politely.

they were going to some event, gigi's father had a pretty important job and he was well respected by the people who worked for him, he earned a lot of money of too. they often went to events like these, leaving gigi home alone, except tonight she had crystal.

///

it was about half seven and they were sat in gigi's garden, on the outdoor sofa, watching the sun set.

"geege, are you okay if i smoke a little weed?" crystal asked.

"yeah, of course i am."

crystal got up to grab her stash from her bag that was in gigi's room, before joining gigi on the outdoor sofa again. she began rolling a blunt, while gigi looked at her with an emotion she couldn't quite place.

"why do you do it?" gigi asked her.

gigi had never smoked weed in her entire life. she didn't understand why anybody did it, she just didn't get the hype. crystal, on the other hand, smoked weed _a lot_ , almost every day if she was being honest.

"do what, smoke weed?"

gigi nodded.

"i don't know how to describe it, but i like the way it makes me feel. it makes me feel really calm and relaxed, it's just a nice feeling, i guess." crystal tried to explain. "do you want to try it?"

"no, thank you." gigi said quickly so that she wouldn't change her mind.

she was curious, she had to admit. crystal smoked a lot of weed, and there was obviously a reason for that, as she had just explained. there was a part of her that wanted to know what it felt like being high. yes, she was very intrigued, but no, she was not going to try weed. absolutely not.

"that's okay." crystal said with a smile, before lighting the blunt and taking it in between her fingers, bringing it to her lips to take a hit.

they stayed there for a little while longer, until crystal had finished smoking her blunt, until the air started to feel cooler and they realised it was probably best if they headed inside.

///

it was nearing 9pm, and they had just got into their pyjamas, after eating some pizza they had ordered from a local restaurant. they were back up in gigi's bedroom now, about to watch some movie they had found on netflix, that neither of them had seen before.

crystal was lying on the bed, had already gotten herself comfortable whilst gigi stood in front of her mirror, putting her long blonde hair up into a ponytail. crystal looked at the girl intently, watching her as she babbled on about one of the parties she had missed while she was away, about how drunk she had gotten.

the truth was she loved gigi a lot, the girl was amazing. she was extremely kind, even though a lot of people got the impression that she was a cold-hearted bitch, she wasn't - she had a tough exterior, sure, but once you got to know her she really was a sweetheart. she was also really fucking funny, she always knew how to make crystal laugh, how to put a smile on her face.

there was a lot she loved about gigi. and if she had thought about kissing her maybe once or twice, nobody had to know. it didn't mean anything.

crystal's thoughts were interrupted when gigi sat down beside her, and leaned over her lap to grab the remote for the tv.

"what are you thinking about, loser?" gigi asked playfully, nudging crystal gently.

"nothing." crystal said, hoping she sounded convincing enough.

"hmm, okay." gigi gave crystal a look, like she knew she was thinking about _something._

"do you wanna watch this movie or what?" crystal asked, a smile on her face like usual, before taking the remote from gigi's hand and starting the movie.

///

monday rolled around far too quickly for anybody's liking. crystal's mom woke her up at half six, causing her to groan into her pillow, wishing she could just go back to sleep.

"honey, you need to wake up, if you want me to drive you to school before work." she told crystal. "you've got an hour, okay?"

"okay, mom."

and so crystal decided to get up and get ready for her first day back to school. she made her bed, before going into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. she then picked out some clothes, deciding on a pair of mom jeans and a cute, purple, slightly oversized t-shirt, which she would wear tucked into her jeans.

just as she was about to get started on her makeup, her phone started blowing up. she noticed that it was the groupchat, everybody was talking about where to meet each other before homeroom, wanting to catch up before the school day began. eventually, they all decided on meeting by jaida's locker, since it was pretty close to where everybody needed to be for homeroom.

///

when crystal got into school about forty minutes later, she was the last one to arrive out of the group. all the girls greeted her, giving her hugs and telling her they had missed her whilst she was in missouri. crystal was happy to see them all again, since she hadn't seen anybody, besides gigi, in a few weeks.

her friendship group was amazing; the girls felt like a second family, she adored them all. there was of course gigi and jaida, as well as jackie - who crystal got along extremely well with, she was gay too, and had came out around the same time that crystal did. needless to say, the two bonded a lot over this and had been close ever since. heidi was another girl in the group, she was kind and funny, and everybody around school loved her. jan always seemed to be in a good mood, she was a ray of fucking sunshine and everyone loved her for it, it was refreshing having somebody around who had such a positive outlook on almost everything. and finally there was nicky who had moved from france a few years back. crystal and nicky didn't get along to begin with, no particular reason, it was just how things were for a while. a lot had changed since then though, the two were really close now, crystal felt like she could tell the girl pretty much anything, without the fear of being judged.

crystal had been there all of five minutes when justin, gigi's boyfriend, showed up and joined in with the conversation. he had his arms around gigi and every now and then he would kiss her. it was weird but it made crystal feel a certain type of way. she couldn't explain it. she didn't want to think about it either.

eventually, the bell for homeroom rang and crystal was pleased that she didn't have to see _that_ scene one moment longer.

///

it was lunchtime, and gigi was with the cheerleading squad, practicing for the first game of the season which would take place a couple weeks from now. gigi insisted that crystal dropped by to watch them practice, and she agreed, because how could she say no to gigi?

she asked jackie to tag along with her, so that she wouldn't be sat alone on the bleachers. jackie didn't take much convincing, the girl had a huge crush on jan, who also happened to be in the cheer squad alongside gigi, nicky and jaida. crystal found out about this _crush_ just before summer vacation began, jackie had never confirmed it but crystal just knew. it was just so obvious to her.

"you like her, huh?" crystal noticed how jackie watched the blonde, the look of adoration in her eyes.

"what?" jackie asked, interrupted from her jan-centered thoughts.

"jan - you like her."

"she's got a boyfriend."

"that doesn't answer my question." crystal told her, a stupid smile on her face. "you can tell me, i'm not going to say anything."

jackie didn't say anything for a moment, and crystal could tell from the look on her face that she was thinking about whether or not to talk about how she was feeling.

"yeah, i like her." jackie admitted. "a lot too."

crystal smiled again, smugly because she had been right all along.

"it just sucks because she's straight. and even if she was gay or bi, she's gorgeous, and kind, and smart, and just amazing, and i'm, well, i'm me, you know." jackie said, her tone saddening at the last part.

"jackie, don't say that! you're cool as fuck, you're stunning, and funny, and you care about people. anyone would be so lucky to have you, i swear to god." crystal told her, pulling her into a comforting, side hug.

the two talked for a little while longer, whilst watching cheer practice. jackie vented to crystal about her crush on jan, and crystal listened, wanting to be there for the girl. crystal wasn't a stranger to having crushes on straight girls, she knew how much it sucked, how much it messed with your head.

when the cheer squad had finished practicing, gigi walked over to the bleachers and sat down beside crystal.

"hey, so i was just coming over to tell you both that me and the girls are going to mcdonald's after school, if you both wanna come." gigi told them.

crystal and jackie agreed, and the three of them talked for a few more minutes, before getting up to grab their things for next lesson.

"if either one of you sees heidi would you let her know the plan for after school?" gigi asked, to which they both agreed.

crystal's next lesson was chemistry, which she absolutely despised. she never understood any of it, and it didn't help that her teacher was the most boring person on the planet.

she was sat at the back, a few seats away from where heidi was. the girl kept pulling faces behind the teacher's back and would make stupid remarks under her breath, and this undoubtedly made the lesson a lot more bearable.

crystal's final lesson that day was geography, which wasn't all that bad. she sat in front of gigi, who throughout the lesson would tap her on the shoulder and get her to turn around. she would tell the teacher it was because she didn't understand the work so she was just getting crystal to explain it to her, when in actuality it was because she wanted to see crystal's dumb face.

when school was over for the day and everybody had been to their lockers to gather their belongings, crystal met gigi, as well as jackie and heidi in the car park, right next to gigi's car since she was driving.

the other girls were meeting them at mcdonald's too but they were taking jaida's car, since there clearly wasn't enough room for all seven of them in gigi's mercedes.

the drive to mcdonald's was fairly short, around ten minutes at the most. crystal was in the back seat with heidi, whilst jackie was in the passenger seat, texting her dad, letting him know that she'd be home later.

"so gigi, how are you and justin?" heidi asked, in a slightly drawn out voice.

"we're good, yeah." gigi said, looking out the car window.

"what's wrong, sis?" heidi asked her, noticing how gigi seemed a little off.

"nothing, we're fine, honestly. i'm just tired, me and justin are good." gigi reiterated, this time sounding slightly more believable.

a few moments later they pulled into the mcdonald's car park, and gigi parked up. they all got out of the mercedes, and crystal texted nicky, telling her that they'd meet her and the other girls inside once they got there.

they all ordered something small since nobody was that hungry, they mainly just wanted to hang out since it had been a while since all seven of them spent time together. they were served their food surprisingly quickly and sat down at a table towards the back of the fast food place. nicky, jaida and jan arrived about five minutes later, and they all began talking to one another. they were laughing, and being loud, just being themselves.

when they were finished, they all said their 'goodbye's and 'see you tomorrow's. gigi drove heidi home first, and then jackie, since it made the most sense that way. it was just gigi and crystal now.

"crys, i'm so fucking tired but justin text me while we were in mcdonald's saying he wants to come over." gigi sighed, she sounded tired too.

"just tell him you're tired, i'm sure he'll get it."

"all day he's been like 'i'm so fucking horny, gee'." gigi said, imitating him. "so i know he's gonna want to fuck."

"you know he can sort that _situation_ out by himself, right?" crystal said, raising an eyebrow, letting out a little laugh at the way gigi had impersonated him.

"that's what i said." gigi told her. "but like, it's fine. we'll fuck and then he'll leave and go see his stupid friends."

crystal didn't know what to say, she felt a lot of emotions in that moment but somehow couldn't find the words to articulate how she was feeling. she opened her mouth to say _something_ when gigi spoke again.

"i'm just in a weird mood today, i guess." she continued.

gigi had been feeling off about her relationship with justin for a while now. she liked him at the beginning, thought he was cute, but that was it really. she didn't get the butterflies, like everybody said she would feel, she didn't feel particularly happy when she was with him, she didn't look at him and think 'wow i love this boy so much'. she just didn't feel anything with him.

she had boyfriends before him too, a series of relationships that had all ended because they never felt right. gigi didn't know what it was, she really could not figure it out.

"geege, are you okay?" crystal asked, turning slightly in her seat of the car, as gigi pulled into her street.

"i'm fine." gigi lied.

"no you're not. what's up?" she knew gigi was lying.

"crystal, i'm okay, honestly. things just feel weird right now, but i'm fine."

"text me if you wanna talk, okay? i love you."

she leaned over in her seat to give gigi a hug. she  
knew not to push the girl too much, she didn't like talking about her feelings, which drove crystal insane but she knew that's just how gigi was. she didn't like opening up about anything, even to crystal, who she had been friends with for a whole ass decade.

"mhmm, i love you too."

crystal got out of the car, waving goodbye to gigi as she walked up her driveway and into her house.

///

it was the next day and the girls were sat in the cafeteria, eating their lunches. crystal was sat across from jackie, and nicky was sat beside crystal, telling them about some boy she had been talking to that morning. in all honesty, crystal wasn't paying much attention to nicky's story, no she was too busy gazing at gigi goode.

she was thinking about the conversation they had in gigi's car the day prior, she couldn't help but think that something was up with the blonde. she didn't seem like herself, a part of crystal thought maybe she was unhappy with justin or maybe something was going on at home. she knew gigi's parents had their issues and that it would often leave gigi feeling kind of down, causing her to distance herself for a while. she didn't know what she was dealing with right now, but either way she was worried. she cared about her friend a lot, she wanted to be there for her but she didn't want to pry into her personal life, didn't want to overwhelm her. if she wanted to talk to crystal about whatever it was that she was dealing with, she would.

"crystal, are you even listening right now?" nicky asked, half way through her story.

"what? oh, sorry." crystal said, before trying to focus her attention on nicky and the boy she was talking about.

///

it was the lesson after lunch and crystal had english with jackie. their teacher was running late, and so jackie had decided to take this time to talk to crystal about something that had lingering on her mind.

"i have a question for you." jackie started, not knowing how else to bring up what she was about to say.

"yes?" crystal said, shifting in her chair slightly.

"actually, no, i'm just going to come out and say this, i think you have a crush on gigi." jackie told her.

"what, why?" crystal responded quickly, slightly confused.

"crystal, you look at her like ... i don't even know how to describe the way you look at her. at lunch time you were out of it, you kept staring off into space but then i realised you were just staring at gigi. i just ... i get it, maybe i'm crazy, but i just ... you're in love with her i swear."

crystal didn't reply. she didn't know what to say, what to think. but it stirred up something inside of her. it made sense, what jackie was saying. it would explain a lot. but she didn't want to think about that right. she was not in love with her best friend, absolutely not.

"that's ridiculous." crystal mumbled weakly.

"is it though?"

and before crystal could try and defend herself and prove that she was absolutely not in love with gigi, their teacher walked into the classroom and demanded that everybody quieted down.

///

later that night, when crystal was lying in bed she thought about her conversation with jackie. it had been playing on repeat in her mind all evening. she had also been thinking about the possibility of jackie being right.

she loved gigi a lot, there was no denying that. but for a while now she had been feeling something towards her she couldn't quite explain. she thought maybe a lot of people felt this way about their best friend, that maybe because she had known gigi so long she just felt a lot of _platonic_ love towards her.

and she hated to admit it but something in her knew that this wasn't just _platonic_ love. she'd be lying if she said she hadn't imagined holding gigi's hand or kissing those pink lips, because she had thought about those things, more times than she could count.

and she wished she didn't feel this way. but she did. she loved gigi a lot, and maybe she loved her in a way that was way beyond the way you'd love a friend. she was screwed.


	2. part two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here is part two :) i'm sorry it took so long but i'm hoping that i'll start posting more because i actually really love this fic and i kinda have a plan for once. let me what you think, i hope you enjoy <3
> 
> \- chloe

the next few days went by pretty quickly without anything out of the ordinary happening. gigi had been running cheer practice after school each day so that the squad could prepare for the upcoming game, it had been distracting her from the fact she was in a relationship with a boy who she didn't exactly love and all of the other shit that was going on in her head. crystal had been getting high every night. ever since jackie had voiced her opinion about how she thought that crystal had a crush on gigi, crystal had been feeling a lot of emotions. she had feelings for gigi, and she really could not deny that as much as she wanted to. she didn't want to feel this way, and so she hoped that maybe eventually these feelings would just go away. the past few nights she had been smoking slightly more than usual, she had been hoping that maybe she could try and forget about her stupid crush and the way that gigi made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. but it wasn't working. gigi never seemed to leave crystal's thoughts. and she knew it was pathetic, but she really could not bring herself to stop thinking about gigi and the way she was making her feel.

it was friday lunchtime now and the girls were all sat on the field near the tennis courts since it was warm out. gigi and crystal were sat beside one another and they were having their own conversation away from the group's discussion.

"so i was wondering do you want to maybe get ready at my house tonight?" gigi asked the other girl, moving her body so that she was facing her slightly.

everybody had been invited to this party that would be taking place at some popular guys' house and so of course the girls had all decided that they would be going.

"um ... sure, yeah." crystal replied, a small, dorky smile on her face.

"yes, bitch!" gigi exclaimed as pulled crystal into a side hug.

crystal giggled at her excitement, leaning into her embrace as she placed an arm around gigi's small waist. gigi held onto crystal for a little longer than necessary, but crystal didn't mind, she liked being close to gigi.

///

it was later that day, school had finished a couple of hours ago and crystal was up in gigi's room again, just like she had been the week before. the two were getting ready for the party, gigi was looking through her closet, trying to pick out an outfit, whilst crystal sat on the floor in front of the full length mirror, ready to do her makeup. crystal was already dressed, in a tight, baby pink dress that gigi insisted she should borrow. it showed off her curves and as she looked at herself in the mirror she couldn't help but think she looked good tonight.

"crys, which one?" gigi asked as showed crystal two outfits, one was a glittery, black dress and the other was a dark red two piece. crystal thought she'd look hot either way.

"um ... the black dress is cute." crystal told her after a moment of thinking to herself.

gigi smiled brightly at crystal, before walking over to her bed and laying both of the options down on it. she began to get undressed, taking off her sweatpants that she had changed into after school and the top she had been wearing all day. crystal looked at gigi for a moment, through the mirror, feeling how her heart would flutter at the sight of the other girl. she tried to shake those feelings away, she was sick of this stupid crush and the way it was making her feel. every time she looked at gigi, or was around her, she would get butterflies and her heart would go all warm and fuzzy. she had felt like this for a while now, in all honesty. a while back, when she was figuring out her sexuality she had a crush on gigi but crystal knew that gigi was straight and that they could never be anything more than friends so ever since then she had been suppressing these feelings, until now. when jackie brought up the idea that maybe crystal had a crush on gigi it had awakened something in her that she had been trying to ignore for a while now. and she didn't know how to feel about that. but she didn't want to think about it.

crystal's thoughts were interrupted when gigi sat down beside her and handed her a shot glass that was almost full to the brim with vodka. gigi was dressed now in her glittery, black dress and was looking at crystal, she had a smile on her face and her light blue eyes were glistening under the light.

they each took the shot, crystal slightly less willingly since she didn't really like alcohol, she grimaced as the liquid ran down her throat and so did gigi because the expensive vodka didn't taste all that great.

crystal continued with her makeup, and gigi made a start on hers, sitting down at her dressing table before grabbing her phone and playing some music for them to listen to as they got ready for the party.

///

they got to the party at around half seven, and were greeted by their friends and other people they knew as they walked in. gigi was pulled into the living room by justin, she had been there all of five minutes and he was already placing his hands all over her body. crystal saw this and it made her feel sick but before she could even process that thought, jackie was grabbing her hand and dragging her to the kitchen so that they could both get a drink and talk.

"how are you doing?" jackie asked, a smile on her face as she poured herself a drink.

"i'm ... good, yeah." crystal replied, and she seemed uncertain.

"you sure about that? what's going on?" jackie's voice was soft and crystal felt at ease because she trusted jackie a lot and she loved the girl, she was genuinely one of the nicest people crystal had ever met.

"i just ... ugh, you were right." crystal admitted.

"about gigi?" crystal nodded in response. "i know." jackie told her, somewhat smugly, taking a sip of her drink.

crystal rolled her eyes at the knowing smile that was growing on jackie's face, she was smiling too but god, why did jackie always have to be right?

"what's happened?" jackie asked, gently, a caring tone in her voice.

"nothing ... i just ... i don't know." crystal couldn't explain what she was feeling in that moment. "i'm fine, honestly."

"you sure?"

crystal nodded, and jackie pulled her into a warm hug. crystal felt content, she was lucky to have jackie.

"are you still staying at gigi's tonight?" jackie asked her.

earlier that day gigi had suggested that the girls stay over at her place after the party, unless plans changed and they found cute guys or girls to hookup with and ended up going home with them instead. jan had already planned on going to her boyfriend's place after the party, which jackie had ranted to crystal about that afternoon in english - it was kinda getting her down, constantly seeing the two together, reminding her that jan would never be hers. but crystal had been there for her, and had made her feel better about this whole situation, which she was very grateful for.

"yeah." crystal replied, simply. "are you?"

"you bet, my parents think i'm at a sleepover anyways. they'd kill me if they knew i was a party right now."

crystal and jackie talked for a little while longer, jackie pointed out the closeness between crystal and gigi that lunchtime, noticed the way gigi held onto crystal when they were hugging, like she didn't want to pull away from her. crystal told her she was crazy, and before jackie could respond, jan walked into the kitchen, clearly quite drunk, and made her way over to the girls. she wrapped an arm jackie's shoulders and cuddled into her side. crystal noticed the way jackie was blushing, and she couldn't help but find the interaction cute, even though tomorrow morning when they were sober again jackie would tell her "jan has a boyfriend, she was just being like that because she was drunk" or something along those lines.

crystal decided to leave the two alone, which maybe in retrospect wasn't the smartest idea since they were both at least _a little_ drunk, and she was convinced jan had some sort of feelings for jackie too. she knew jan had briefly dated girls before and had been very much attracted to them but it was always super casual and not many people knew about it. one night during the summer, jan had told crystal about this, it was 10pm and they were sat in a taco bell parking lot which was extremely random, yes, but that's besides the point. crystal couldn't quite remember how this all came up but jan had told her she was bisexual. but crystal never told jackie any of this because she didn't think it was her place to say. crystal was convinced that jan had a crush on jackie, she thought for a while now that there was something unspoken between the two. and maybe there was.

soon after leaving jan and jackie alone with one another, she found nicky and heidi, who were sat in the living room on one of the sofas. she stayed with the girls for a while, the three of them were talking and laughing with one another, having a good time at the party. and crystal was surprised because usually she hated parties, but tonight she was having fun.

///

gigi, on the other hand, was not having a good night. she had been feeling off for a while now and she couldn't figure out why. during the day she could pretend that everything was fine, that she was happy but deep down she was dealing with a lot of things that she couldn't fully comprehend. gigi had this reputation, everybody saw her in a certain light - they saw her as somebody who didn't have any real feelings or emotions, they thought that she didn't feel anything because she had a hard exterior. and they thought that because she came from a rich family and because she was popular and pretty and smart that everything in her life was perfect. but that was far from the truth. her family was a mess, to say the least. her parents were cheating on one another constantly and gigi knew they didn't love each other. her father wasn't a nice person, he didn't care about his daughter or his wife, he only cared about his image and how he and his family looked to the rest of the world. he didn't care about the fact that gigi was hurting, that she was struggling, that she hated having to pretend that everything was alright when it wasn't. but gigi was used to it, she had known for a while now that he just didn't care about her and she knew that was never going to change.

at some point during the party, she and justin began making out in the busy hallway. his hands were all over her body, and she hated it because god did she wish those hands belonged to somebody else? justin grabbed her hand and led her up the stairs into a bedroom on the right, gigi locked the door and they made out against the door until gigi walked them backwards and pushed him onto the bed. she didn't know why she was, in a way, instigating this, sex with him was never enjoyable, it had never been enjoyable with anybody for that matter. but maybe she was wanted this tonight because she wanted to forget about everything that was going on in her head, just for a while. and so they continued kissing, and one thing led to another.

///

it was later that night, around midnight and gigi had had way too much to drink. she was sat in the backyard on a bench, drinking ... she didn't even know what she was drinking but she knew it didn't taste good. she and justin had an argument because he had asked gigi to stay the night so that they could have sex again and when she told him that she already plans and that the girls would be staying over at her place, he got mad and said that she never wanted to spend time with him which was absolutely ridiculous considering he only wanted her when he wanted sex. she called him out, and he didn't like it and so now she was sat on this bench crying over a boy she didn't even love. she felt like he had been using her, and it fucking sucked. people had used her time and time again for sex, for money, for popularity, and she was sick of it, it wasn't a good feeling at all.

"gigi, are you okay?" it was crystal.

gigi wiped her tears as quickly as she could, she didn't want crystal to know that she had been crying. but it was too late.

"hey ... why are you crying?" crystal's voice sounded worried as she sat down beside her.

gigi didn't say anything for a moment, tried to hold herself together as everything suddenly became too much. a lot had been getting to her recently and perhaps this was the thing that would send her over the edge, and cause her to break down.

"me and justin had a fight." gigi told her quietly.

"what did you guys fight about?" crystal asked her gently.

"it was stupid." gigi brushed it off.

"you can tell me, you know?" crystal offered, grabbing her hand.

gigi nodded, and for a moment she didn't care about her fight with justin. she looked down at their hands, how their fingers were intertwined. gigi couldn't help but notice how it felt right, holding crystal's hand - it made her feel at ease. but at the same time it made her feel nervous, she felt a flutter in her stomach and in her heart. her mouth went dry, and suddenly everything made sense but she also felt so much more confused.

"do you want to talk to me about this?" crystal asked her, her tone was still gentle and soothing and gigi wished she wouldn't be so nice.

"i'm okay, i just ... i wanna go home soon." gigi told her, and she sounded fragile, like maybe she was about to fall apart.

"that's okay." crystal assured her, offering her a small smile. "do you still want me and the girls to stay over because i can just go back to my place if you want to be alone tonight? i'm sure the girls can make other plans?"

"no, please. i don't want to be alone tonight." gigi was vulnerable in that moment, she really didn't want to be alone.

///

they left the party half an hour later and gigi was starting to feel a little bit better. crystal, nicky, jaida and jackie had managed to cheer her up, and she was feeling extremely grateful for them all. when they got to gigi's house, they went straight up to gigi's room. neither of her parents were home which meant they didn't have to tip-toe around in fear that her parents would get mad at them for coming home so late.

they all got ready for bed, taking off their makeup and changing into pyjamas that gigi had let them borrow. it wasn't as easy as it sounded though because they were all pretty drunk and laughing at the stupid shit they each would do. crystal kept on making dumb jokes, and gigi was laughing so hard she forgot she had been crying just over an hour ago. nicky and jackie were acting out something they swore had went down that lunchtime in the cafeteria and that in itself was an emotional rollercoaster. jaida was sick of everybody's bullshit but was having a great time nevertheless.

gigi insisted that crystal slept beside her in her king sized bed, and again, crystal couldn't say no to gigi so she agreed. jackie, jaida and nicky were sleeping on the floor, but they made it comfortable with lots of blankets and pillows and duvets.

the lights were off now and after half an hour of the girls being delusional and sleep deprived, which was causing them to laugh at almost everything, the room fell quiet. but neither gigi nor crystal could sleep.

"crys, i can't sleep." gigi whispered.

"me neither." crystal said.

"can you ... nevermind." gigi felt really stupid.

"can i ... what?" crystal asked, she was curious now.

"can you cuddle me, please?" gigi said softly, like she was scared crystal would say no.

crystal felt a swarm of butterflies in her stomach, moving around, fluttering. she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"um, sure."

crystal placed an arm around gigi's waist, and gigi moved closer to her, wanting to be right beside her, wrapped in her embrace. crystal held onto her waist, and gigi looked over at her, an adorable smile on her face.

"what?" crystal asked, a smile on her face too because the way gigi was looking at her was making her feel all sorts of emotions.

"you're so fucking beautiful." gigi told her, moving a section of crystal's dark brown hair behind her ear.

crystal swore she stopped breathing for a moment, they were so close to one another, their body's practically touching, and crystal felt like this was all a crazy dream. gigi _fucking_ goode had just called her beautiful and it made her so unbelievably happy, she _really_ could not believe it. crystal knew she was just being nice, that she was just being a good friend, but it still warmed her entire being because as far as crystal was concerned gigi was the most beautiful person on this whole planet.

"i mean it, you're stunning." gigi continued, her hand was now resting on crystal's cheek, caressing it gently.

crystal blushed, unable to speak, as gigi snuggled into her, her arm moved down to crystal's waist and she held onto her like she didn't want to let her go. crystal knew she was only being this cuddly because she was drunk and tired, but she appreciated this moment regardless. 

"crystal?" gigi spoke up again, a few moments later - this time she sounded tired, like she was going to fall asleep any minute now.

"yes?"

"you're my favourite person." gigi told her, and she meant it with all her heart.

"you're my favourite person too, geege."

///

crystal woke up at around half nine, which was pretty early considering she didn't get to sleep until after 3am. gigi's arms were still wrapped around her waist, and she looked adorable sleeping there peacefully. she stayed there for a few minutes, not wanting to wake gigi, until she needed to go the bathroom and had no choice but to try and wiggle out of gigi's embrace.

she went to the toilet, and freshened herself up. she brushed her teeth with the toothbrush she always kept at gigi's house for whenever she stayed over, before heading downstairs to make herself some coffee. when she got into the kitchen, jackie was already there making herself a coffee. she greeted crystal with a smile, and asked her if she wanted anything.

"i'd love a coffee, please." crystal replied, letting out a small yawn, before sitting down at the kitchen island.

"what's going on with you and gigi?" jackie asked her, a smirk on her face.

"what do you mean?" crystal replied, slightly confused.

"i saw you both cuddling this morning." jackie explained.

"how long have you been awake?"

"i woke up like ten minutes before you so not that long." jackie said. "what's going on then?"

"nothing, i swear. we couldn't sleep last night so she asked if we could cuddle." crystal told her, she realised how it must have looked but it truly wasn't like that. "what was going on with you and jan last night?" crystal asked, changing the subject.

jackie rolled her eyes but she was smiling, although she was trying to hide that the best she could but it still wasn't working.

"nothing." jackie said, and crystal had a feeling she was lying.

"hmm, i don't believe that."

"nothing happened, not really."

"what do you mean not really?" crystal was intrigued now, she wanted to know what was going on between them.

"she was just being really cuddly, i don't know what to say." jackie said.

"i saw."

"and then at some point, we ended up in the backyard, we were sat on the stairs and we talked for i don't even know how long." jackie continued.

"oh my god!" crystal exclaimed.

"she was sat really close to me, and every now and then she'd play with my hair, or grab my hand."

"jackie, oh my god." crystal was now _very_ convinced that jan liked jackie, it made so much sense.

"what?" jackie asked, clueless.

"i think she likes you." crystal confessed, as jackie handed her her coffee.

"crystal, that's crazy." jackie said.

"it's really not." crystal shrugged, taking a sip of her coffee.

they talked for a little while longer, and decided to make coffee for the other girls so that they could go take it to them. they took the coffees upstairs, and found the girls awake, but they were all on their phones, not saying a word to one another.

"morning, bitches." crystal greeted them, she sat down beside gigi in her bed and handed her her coffee.

"thanks, crys." gigi said with a smile.

///

the girls left at around 1pm, after having a pretty chill morning, doing absolutely nothing. gigi spent the rest of the day watching netflix and thinking about the thoughts she had been avoiding. she was starting to realise that there was a reason things never felt right with justin and the boys she had dated before him. and deep down she knew exactly what that reason was, and she really did not want to think about it.


	3. part three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone, i want to start off by saying that i'm sorry i haven't updated this in over a month, i've been feeling kinda up and down about life and i just haven't had the motivation to write in all honesty. i'll be feeling good for a little while but then everything just goes bad again and i just won't wanna write, you know? i'm really going to try my best to write more because i do love this fic and i have a lot of plans for it, i'm just dealing with some things right now, but i swear i will try my best to start posting more :) 
> 
> i hope you enjoy this chapter, it isn't my best work but i still think it's okay. also it's kinda angsty ?? like for a moment kinda, i think, i don't know. anyways, please let me know what you thought of it, comments honestly make my day so much better <3

it was monday morning, and gigi was at her locker, getting her books for first period, when she saw justin walking towards her. she groaned internally, not wanting to talk to him or even look at him for that matter. she was sick of pretending that she was in love with him when she most definitely was not. she wanted to break up with him, she had been thinking about it a lot over the past couple days, but she didn't want to deal with everybody asking her questions. it happened every time she and a boyfriend would break up, everybody thought they were entitled to knowing every single detail about her life and her relationships. and it drove her insane because she wished she could just do whatever she wanted without the fear of people watching her every move and judging her.

"gigi, i'm sorry, you have to believe me. i didn't mean to get mad at you, but i was upset. you seem distant and you never want to spend time with me and it's starting to take it's toll on me." justin said to her. "i just want to spend time with you, is that too much to ask?"

gigi really did not want to be having this conversation right now, she wasn't in the mood to be dealing with his bullshit. justin moved closer to her, grabbed her hand, trying to get her to look at him.

"say something, gigi, please." justin pleaded with her, squeezing her hand.

she stayed quiet for a moment more, not knowing what to do or say. she was wondering if maybe she had overreacted and taken things the wrong way, maybe justin wasn't using her, maybe his intentions with her were genuine. and if that was truly the case, gigi felt bad for ever thinking otherwise. she had been hurt in the past, every boy she had dated was either using her or cheating on her for the majority of the relationship, and it was constantly in the back of her mind, the feeling that nobody could love her. and this was why gigi was scared to put her trust in people, she was scared she was going to get hurt again because god knows almost everybody had hurt her at some point or other.

"i don't know what you want me to say." gigi said finally.

"are we good?" justin asked.

"yeah, i guess." gigi told him.

as much as she wasn't necessarily angry with him anymore, she still wished she wasn't in this relationship. she had been thinking a lot recently about pretty much everything; her relationship with justin, her life, and some other things she wasn't quite ready to come to terms with. and she was realising she wasn't happy with who she was pretending to be. but she had this reputation, and she wasn't going to let that slip.

"babe, i'm gonna make it up to you, i promise." justin said, before pulling her into a hug and kissing her.

they talked for a few minutes, well justin talked and gigi pretended to listen to whatever the fuck he was going on about. eventually nicky and jaida walked over to them, and gigi was so relieved to see them, because she was so sick of hearing justin talk. as the minutes went by, more of the girls joined them, as well as some of justin's friends from the football team.

heidi was telling crystal about some guy she had met at the party, and crystal was trying her best to pay attention but she was distracted by gigi once again. she and her boyfriend were making out, which came as somewhat of a surprise considering they had been fighting at the party on saturday, but crystal knew that their relationship was none of her business, if they had talked things through then good for them. but crystal was hurting and she was feeling so many other emotions too that she couldn't really fully comprehend. but what she did know was that she hated seeing gigi with justin, she could sense that gigi wasn't happy with him, that maybe he wasn't treating her very well, that she deserved better.

another reason crystal was feeling the way she was feeling was because of what happened after the party. she and gigi cuddled all night and crystal would be lying if she said she didn't like it, but she knew that it didn't mean anything, gigi was drunk and just wanted to be shown some form of love and affection after having an argument with justin, which was why she had asked her to cuddle her. but crystal wished gigi felt the same, she wished that those cuddles had meant something more to gigi, that she hadn't just asked crystal to hold her close because she felt alone after fighting with her shitty boyfriend. and crystal was starting to wish that she didn't feel this way, because she knew it was going to ruin her in one way or another.

///

it was first period now, and crystal wasn't in english, where she was supposed to be, nope, she was in the toilets near the art classrooms, smoking a joint. she had skipped class to smoke weed a few times before so this wasn't really out of the ordinary for her, what was different was the hurt she was feeling over this particular situation, which had been the main reason she decided to skip english in the first place. her emotions were overwhelming, and she didn't want to be around anybody right now, she just wanted to get high and spend some time alone.

when the bell for second period rang, crystal decided she was done getting high in the school bathroom and being all alone. she had spent the whole of first period there, on her phone watching tik toks, after smoking her joint. and of course she had been thinking about gigi whilst she was there and the way she had been feeling before homeroom, but that really wasn't important.

crystal got to her second period class, history, a few minutes late, and was relieved to find that the teacher hadn't showed up yet. she sat down in her seat beside jaida, who immediately clocked that she was high.

"crystal, are you fucking kidding me?" jaida asked, clearly quite amused, which made crystal laugh. "why are you high so early in the morning?" 

"why the fuck not?" crystal replied.

"chile ... i - "she cut herself off, noticing that crystal didn't seem like her usual self. "are you alright?" jaida asked, wanting to make sure the girl was okay.

"i think so." crystal said in a slightly drawn out voice, truthfully she didn't know how to feel, she was just really overwhelmed by everything she was feeling.

"you know i'm here for you, if you need anything, sis, i got you." jaida told her.

"i know, thanks jaida." crystal said, a small smile on her face.

the girls talked for a few more minutes, until the teacher finally arrived and gave the class instructions on the work they would be doing that lesson. crystal spent the entire lesson trying her best to focus, but she just couldn't. she had way too much on her mind, as well as the fact she had smoked a little too much weed and was finding it hard to concentrate. but eventually the lesson came to a close, and she and jaida went their separate ways, off to third period.

///

it was the end of the school day and crystal was sat in jackie's car. jackie was taking her home, but had told her to wait in the car whilst she quickly said goodbye to jan. crystal knew something must have gone down between them at the party on saturday, because she had noticed a certain type of energy between the two. things seemed different between them, like maybe they had grown closer, like maybe something new was being formed, and it warmed crystal's heart because jackie deserved so much happiness, and she thought maybe she could find that with jan.

a few minutes later, jackie opened the door and sat down in the driver's seat. she seemed to be in a really good mood and crystal could bet why.

"what's got you in such a good mood?" crystal asked, a grin on her face.

"can't i just be in a good mood? do i really need a reason to be happy?" jackie asked back, smiling.

"i guess." crystal said, picking at what was left of her dark blue nail polish, before looking back up at jackie. "i'm not stupid though, so spill. what's going on?"

"nothing's going on." jackie told her, as she reversed out of the parking space. "but ... uh ... we've been spending a lot of time together the past couple days, we've gotten really close and we've shared a lot with each other, it's weird because we've always been pretty close but i just feel like i know her on a different level now, if that makes sense."

crystal nodded, knowing what jackie was talking about. she felt this weird form of excitement inside of her as jackie spoke to her about jan and their - whatever it was that was brewing between the two. nothing made crystal happier than seeing her friends happy, it truly brought her joy knowing that her friends were doing good.

"so then at lunch today she told me that she and her boyfriend broke up, and when i asked her why she said that she had to follow her heart, and so obviously i assumed that meant she just didn't love him anymore. but then i was in maths and she passed me a note telling me to meet her behind the art building before last lesson."

crystal was listening to jackie intently, she was so invested in what she was saying because she really was rooting for her and jan.

"so i met her there and she told me ... the reason she broke up with her boyfriend was because she likes me."

"jackie, oh my god!" crystal practically squealed, to which jackie let out a giggle at her response. "so what did you say?"

"i was like 'are you serious' and she was like 'yeah, of course i am'. so then she asked me if i felt the same and i said yes. she moved closer to me, and put her arms around my neck ... she kissed me, crystal!" jackie told her, and crystal noted how happy she looked in that moment.

"i am so happy for you!" crystal exclaimed. "how was the kiss?" she asked, a smirk on her face.

"it was great, yeah." jackie said, blushing, trying to hide how she was smiling, thinking about the kiss. "anyways, you missed first period this morning, what was that about?" jackie asked, a few moments later.

crystal was silent for a moment. she didn't want to talk about it, didn't want to keep dwelling on her feelings and how they were tearing her up inside. she wished she didn't love gigi the way she did because she knew everything would be so much simpler if she didn't feel this way.

"i kinda got all in my feelings this morning, i guess, so i went to smoke some weed." crystal said, looking down at her lap.

"this was about gigi, i'm guessing?" jackie said, a knowing look on her face.

crystal just nodded.

"do you want to talk about it?" jackie asked her softly.

"i'm okay." crystal told her, a small smile on her face, trying to assure her that she truly was fine because she really didn't want to keep going through this situation in her mind. she was over feeling like this.

moments later they pulled into crystal's street and drove along until they reached her house. jackie turned to her, and gave her a smile - she could tell that crystal was struggling deep down and she wanted to do everything in her power to make sure she was okay.

"text me if you need anything, okay?" jackie told her, pulling her into a hug, trying to make her feel better.

crystal thanked her, and held onto jackie for a moment longer, before grabbing her bag from the floor of the car and getting out and shutting the door. she waved jackie off, and headed inside her home.

///

the next couple days were weird to say the least. crystal was still feeling overwhelmed by her feelings for gigi, and seeing her with justin everyday never seemed to stop hurting. she felt stupid because there was literally no reason for her to be feeling like this. but that didn't change anything, she was still beating herself up for having a crush on her straight best friend, and she really wished that these feelings would go away because they were driving her insane.

she also noticed that gigi was avoiding her, which was making her feel even worse than she already felt. she didn't know what she had done wrong, why gigi felt the need to ignore her like this, but it hurt like hell.

the two barely spoke on monday, but crystal put it down to the fact that gigi had spent lunchtime with justin and that they didn't have any lessons together that day. on tuesday they had geography second period, and gigi barely said two words to her, and when they did speak she seemed cold. this hurt crystal, of course, but she was starting to think that maybe she was just being dramatic, maybe she was going crazy over this stupid crush. later that day she messaged gigi but she didn't get a reply, instead she was left on read and crystal couldn't help but wonder what she had done wrong. this happened again on wednesday, and crystal felt so much confusion, they were so close on friday night, what had changed since then?

crystal went into school on thursday with the idea that she and gigi were probably not going to be talking. and as much as that sucked, that had been the reality of the past few days. she had tried to reach out to her, but gigi really did not want to talk to her, or so it seemed.

crystal was at her locker when gigi showed up and started talking to her like nothing had happened, like she hadn't just been ignoring her for the past three days.

"hey, crystal!" gigi said, leaning on the locker that was next to crystal's. "i like your outfit today, you look really good."

crystal really could not believe it. she wanted to say something, ask her why she had been cold with her on tuesday or why she hadn't replied to any of her texts but she didn't want to start a fight or make gigi feel bad. she had come to the realisation that gigi was probably going through something, which made a lot of sense because she had done this before and every time it was due to something going on in her personal life. and so all crystal could do was try her best to be a good friend and be there for gigi.

"thanks, geege." crystal said with a dorky smile, the butterflies in her stomach going crazy.

"of course. i really like this colour on you." gigi told her, touching the blue, oversized plaid shirt that crystal wore over a black crop top.

"thank you." crystal was very aware of how close gigi was to her, how her fingers lingered on the material of her shirt, how she held onto her arm slightly. "you ... um ... look really ... hot." _wow, so smooth, crystal._

"i know." gigi said with a wink, a smirk on her face.

crystal could feel herself blushing, and she had a feeling that gigi noticed too but either way she didn't say anything, instead she wrapped her arms around crystal and hugged her. crystal didn't know why gigi was hugging her, why she was holding onto her so tightly, until she started talking, started apologising.

"i'm sorry, crystal." gigi whispered, as she held onto the brunette for a moment longer, she didn't want to let her go.

"for what?" crystal asked, pulling away from the hug so that she could look at gigi.

"i know i've been kinda distant the past few days, and i know you've been ... worried about me. i shouldn't have left you on read, i shouldn't have been the way i was with you in geography. i feel really bad, crys." gigi explained sincerely.

gigi knew she had made a huge mistake and she knew there were no excuses. she shouldn't have ignored her and distanced herself without giving her an explanation. she knew how caring crystal was, how she had so much love for all her friends, how she empathised with pretty much everyone. she also knew that crystal probably thought that she was the problem at one point or another and gigi wished she wouldn't think that like that because the girl was an angel and deserved the entire world. she wished she could give her that.

"it's okay, i promise." crystal told her. "you can talk to me about anything, you know that, right?"

"i know." gigi replied, her voice wavering slightly.

"are you doing okay, geege?" crystal asked, and gigi could see in her eyes how much she cared.

she truly did not know how to answer that question,she couldn't find the words to even begin to explain how she had been feeling these past few days.

"i don't know." gigi said after a few moments, hating how vulnerable she suddenly felt.

"do you wanna tell me why you've been distant?" crystal's voice was soft, and it made gigi feel better, she always felt better when she was around crystal.

"i've just been dealing with some stuff." gigi told her, looking down at the floor. "i'll be okay, honestly."

"are you sure?" crystal asked, wanting to make sure that she truly was okay.

gigi nodded, but before she could say anything else she and crystal were joined by the rest of the girls, and they spent the next ten minutes talking amongst themselves before homeroom began.

///

it was 5pm on saturday when crystal decided she was going to have a low key night, despite getting invited to some rich kid from school's house party. she wasn't in the mood to be going to a party tonight, all she wanted to do was stay home. she ran herself a nice, warm bath and stayed there for almost an hour, deep in her thoughts like always while listening to a playlist she had made on spotify. she eventually got out of the bath, put on some shorts and a baggy t-shirt, when she noticed a text message from gigi.

 **gigi:** _hey, can i please come over?_

crystal quickly typed out her response, before putting her hair up into a bun and heading downstairs to tell her mom.

 **crystal:** _of course u can :)_

 **gigi:** _i'll be like half an hour <3_

she and gigi had been talking a lot more over the past couple days and it felt really nice to have her back beside her. gigi apologised again, told her how bad she felt for ignoring her like that and crystal assured her she didn't have to apologise. she understood that she was dealing with some stuff and crystal wanted nothing more than to be there for her. she cared for this girl a lot, she just wanted her to be okay.

gigi arrived at crystal's house at around half seven, dressed in some grey sweatpants and a white crop top that showed off her toned stomach. crystal thought she looked gorgeous like always, she was happy to see her again too.

they headed into the living room, gigi wanted to say 'hi' to crystal's parents before she and crystal went upstairs. they let her come over pretty much anytime she liked, and they had always made her feel so welcome, ever since the first time she came over, back in second grade. she loved crystal's family a lot, she really was so grateful for them.

when they had finished talking with her parents, they headed upstairs and into crystal's room. gigi took off her air force ones and got herself comfortable on the double bed. crystal sat down beside her, looking at her intently for a moment as gigi began playing with her hair. crystal could feel her palms getting sweaty, and she knew how pathetic it was getting so nervous around the other girl, when all she was doing was playing with her hair, but she really just couldn't help it. gigi made her so unbelievably nervous, it was ridiculous. 

"why are you not at the party tonight?" gigi asked, continuing to play with crystal's hair.

"i didn't feel like it." crystal said simply. "why are _you_ not at the party?"

"i didn't feel like it either. justin will be there and i just can't be dealing with his shit right now." gigi explained, lying down on the bed.

"are you guys okay?" crystal asked, lying down beside her.

"i don't know." she said eventually. "like, we're fine, i guess."

crystal could tell gigi was holding back.

"i just ... i know i'm supposed to be in love with him or whatever but i ... i'm thinking about breaking up with him." gigi confessed. "i just don't know what to do."

"why do you wanna break up with him?" crystal asked, turning on her side so that she was facing gigi.

"thing's just never feel right with him. it's like there's something missing. i don't know how to explain it." gigi said, feeling like she wasn't making any sense.

"i know what you mean, geege. if you don't feel happy with him, i honestly would just break up with him. you deserve the world." crystal told her, grabbing one of gigi's hands and giving it a squeeze.

gigi didn't know what to say in that moment. she was too focused on the girl in front of her and how their fingers were intertwined. she was starting to realise that she really liked holding crystal's hand, it felt nice, that was all.

"do you want to watch something on netflix? there's a new reality show out if you want to watch that." crystal suggested, wanting to take gigi's mind off justin.

"ooooh, yes please." gigi said, pushing her previous thoughts out of her mind.

///

it was a couple hours later, nearing 10pm now and the girls were sat on crystal's bedroom floor, eating ben and jerry's ice cream out of the tub. they had gave up watching netflix about half an hour ago, decided all they wanted to do was talk to one another. gigi had realised that she didn't want to talk about justin anymore tonight, was too focused on crystal and her gorgeous smile and the way she made her life so much better. she felt safe tonight, cuddled into crystal's side, in the four walls of her bedroom. in those moments nothing else seemed to matter, she was with her favourite person, that was enough.


End file.
